Link Centre Dictionary

obeah

UK/ˈəʊbɪə/ US/ˈobia/ uncommon

noun

1.

a religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery; practiced in parts of the West Indies and tropical Americas

Synonyms

Origin

Uncertain; apparently from a Caribbean creole, probably ultimately from a West African language. The Oxford English Dictionary points to Igbo abià (“knowledge, wisdom”), obìa (“doctor, healer”). Cognate of Aukan obiya, Saramaccan obia, and Sranan Tongo obia.

Phrases

  • obeah doctor

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.